On the Trail of the Lonesome Pie

Day 72

Lexington, VA to Charlottesville, VA

Distance: 76 miles

Climbing: last serious climb of the trip

Views: spectacular

In the Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, on the trail of the… well, I am no longer the lonesome pie, for a couple of days, at least.

Tonight, I met with Ed and his wife, Holly for dinner. I was working for Ed in London just before I left for this trip and was thrilled when I found out that my route took me through Charlottesville, which is where Ed and Holly live.

And as today approached, I realised that Ed would be the first familiar face I had seen since I left Valerie and Paul’s house in Portland, OR on July 21, waving goodbye to Paul with my blue surgical glove-covered hand, two of my fingertips dripping with blood, after a disagreement with a sharp knife…

It seems a long time ago.

Since then, I have covered around 4,000 miles, seen amazing scenery and wildlife and met some truly wonderful people. And each day has brought a new start, with different and unexpected happenings, and chance meetings with folks I would never have met had it not been for the fact that I am doing this trip on a bicycle, and on my own.

But, as I have said before, I have missed seeing friends, family, loved ones and having the continuity that comes with everyday life. At least I will be not be taking it for granted so much when I return.

Today, I was keen to get an early start from Lexington, but as is sometimes the case these days, my planned departure time was at least 45 minutes before the time at which Steed and I actually rolled out onto the road.

I had woken up early and ventured out in Lexington town centre in search of breakfast, only to find everything closed. The coffee roasters, which sounded great, somehow seem to get away with opening at 10am of a morning, which sounded very civilised, but not much use to me.

Instead I camped out on the porch of Macado’s, the sandwich chain to which Vince and Joanne had gone when getting that fantastic grilled ham and cheese sub for me in Marion, VA, and was first in through the door as it opened at 8am. The guy there was great and stepped to it for me when I explained the situation, whipping me up a delicious BLT and coffee in the shake of a lamb’s tail.

When I did eventually set off, it was a warm but overcast morning, and I was a little disappointed as I knew that I would be climbing to the Blue Ridge Parkway at around 25 miles into the ride, and I was looking forward to the views. It runs 469 miles from the Great Smoky Mountains in North Carolina to the Shenandoah National Park In Virginia, although I was only on it for 20 miles or so...

The ascent to the parkway was one of the longest and steepest of the trip so far, which is in some ways ironic, since it was also my last big climb of the trip. From here to the coast, there is some rolling terrain, but nothing to rival what has been the bane of my legs for the past few weeks.

And as I was climbing, I could see through the trees that the sun was coming out, like it was beckoning me, ready to show off its vast, spectacular views rather than shroud them in mist.

When I reached the top, just as I was about to join the parkway, I met Karel, a Dutch cyclist on a recumbent bike who is also Eastbound. We stopped and chatted for a while, and by the time I headed out onto the Parkway and continued to climb (what was that all about?) I suddenly realised that I was seriously pressed for time. Having made arrangements for dinner, and knowing how long these mileages actually take me, I was a little anxious.

I was also running out of water. The climbing had been more strenuous than I had expected and continued for longer on the parkway, and the last grocery store marked on the map was nowhere to be found and/or had closed down.

As I looked from side to side and out to the blue mountains in one direction, and a spectacular valley in the other, instead of taking it all in in a leisurely fashion, my brain was thinking… you really should get a move on Kat – oh, and you should have woken up earlier, been quicker at eating breakfast, managed to get through the railroad crossing before that long train came along and made you wait over 5 minutes, not spoken to Karel for so long, and why oh why did you get so cocky and think that you didn’t need to bring an extra bottle of water… have you learned nothing?

But gradually, I convinced myself to relax and realise I had some downhill in hand, and that I would find a way to make it work. It always does work out, even if it’s not quite as expected, and it was just remembering that and having faith in it which then allowed me to soak up the beauty of my surroundings, and even manage to stop and take a couple of shots (which really do fail to do it justice).

Descending from the parkway, and flipping over the map, I found that I was expected to do a huge loop around on some back roads to get to Charlottesville. I had seen a sign on the main highway saying “Charlottesville 19”, but by ACA-man’s route planning, this was around 24 miles. Sighing but setting out to follow ACA man’s advice, I found myself on the crappiest road surface for some time, going up and down small steep hills past loose dogs, and still with some traffic on the road. When a sign told me to turn directly away from the direction I knew Charlottesville to be in, I had had enough.

Muttering “bugger this for a game of soldiers” as I spun Steed around, we headed for the highway and made our way, quite safely, into town on that.

My B&B is right near the University, which has some beautiful, historic buildings and monuments, as well as a little area of hopping bars, cafes and restaurants, which I am looking forward to trying.

Holly and Ed told me all about it after swinging by to pick me up and taking me for a fantastic meal at their Country Club (which is also the place where they got married).

It was a lovely evening, with great food and wine, and even better company.

And tomorrow, my lovely friend Julia is driving down from Washington DC to spend the day with me in Charlottesville.

As I said, lonesome, not I…

Me x